Building guns ran in the blood of John Moses Browning. He built his first gun as a boy when he made a shotgun out of scrap pieces at his home. His love of understanding how things worked and the creation of new things never died. Most of his designs were in his head and he would put them on paper after the fact.
His love for guns was not fueled by the desire to make a weapon. Firearms were a way of life back then. A gun put food on the table, created friendly sport among neighbors, and it protected your home from evil. Browning probably never would have believed as a child that his inventions would someday change the world. Some blamed him for the deaths of millions as the Great War broke out. Others credited him for his role in helping end the war by making weapons that gave US soldiers an advantage.
The Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand
On June 28, 1914, Gavrilo Princip shot and killed Franz Ferdinand and his wife. Ferdinand was the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne. His assassination would set off a chain of events that ultimately led to the great war, or better known today as World War I.
The gun he used to shoot Ferdinand was an FN model 1910, a blowback handgun designed by none other than John Moses Browning. At this point in time, more than a million model 1910s had been produced. According to author Nathan Gorenstein, Browning’s handguns were so popular in France that any pistol was referred to as a “le browning.”
Browning was somewhat of a private man and while he preferred his gun shop to the glamour and lights, there was no chance to escape the criticism of others. Even before war broke out in Europe, Browning was blamed for any destruction or evil that involved his inventions. In 1907, the Salt Lake Tribune printed an article titled “Ogdenite Invents Deadly Weapons.” Concerns over Browning’s inventions were not limited to the United States either. With each invention, guns were becoming cheaper and easier to acquire. This also meant crimes involving guns started to increase.
You wouldn’t be surprised to know that New York passed its first version of gun control, called the Sullivan Law, in 1911. Under this provision, a permit was needed to carry a handgun. While the most famous assassination involved an American-invented weapon, that’s not all that changed for America when that gun was fired.
The Invention of the 1911 as the Great War Approached
Just a few years before the assassination of Ferdinand, Browning was working on a full-size semi-auto pistol for the US military. He had already designed one version in 1910 that looked a lot like a 1911, but it lacked an external safety. The US military didn’t like the idea of soldiers carrying a modern weapon like this. They wanted some type of safety for the solder to purposely disengage.
The Savage pistol failed 31 times. That was all it took to convince the US military to adopt the 1911 as its standard issue sidearm. Little did they know how much that gun would be used in the future. In less than 10 years, the country would be at war and Browning’s 1911 would be front and center.
From Pistols to Machine Guns
As WWI broke out, the US military turned to Browning for new weapons. Weapons made specifically for war. They needed guns that could shoot larger bullets faster. They needed machine guns.
Browning’s 1911 had gained even more fame during WWI with stories like Sgt York and his heroics involving his 1911 pistol. But the handgun was not enough. So, Browning set out to continue work he had already started on automatic rifle designs. In fact, Browning hadn’t started inventing an automatic rifle for the military. He was a gun inventor and creating new guns is what he did. One of these inventions that he started and finished in 1917 would become the most famous American machine gun in history — the Browning Automatic Rifle, or BAR. It’s not clear when Browning invented the BAR, but he probably never thought it would be used to kill or save thousands of lives.
Before WWI was over, Browning’s BAR was being issued to fight a world war. His invention of machine guns would earn him the title “master machine gun mechanic of the world” by Gen F. H. French. This title was given to him when he produced the Browning 30-caliber machine gun, but the BAR was not far behind.
While the BAR was used in the First World War, manufacturing issues caused significant delays in its distribution. The 1911 handgun, however, saw more than a half-million guns produced by eight different manufacturers. Browning’s machine guns would see more action, but it would not be until after the inventor’s death in 1926.
A Second World War Fought with Browning’s Creations
It’s almost unbelievable that a gun invented by one man would be used to start a world war, and other guns by the same inventor used to fight that war. But Browning’s influence doesn’t stop there. By WWII, Browning had long since passed away, but his inventions were the bedrock of military weapons.
Even before the US entered WWII, Browning’s firearms were being used by numerous countries. Success was given to specialized groups like the British RAF (Royal Air Force) who started using eight mounted .303 Browning machine guns on their planes.
WWII had its heroes just like WWI, and these involved Browning’s inventions. One of the most famous from WWII is the story of Audi Murphy who famously fought the Germans single-handedly with a Browning 30-caliber air-cooled machine gun. Browning’s guns continued to be used in nearly every branch of the armed forces until the end of the war.
The Legend and His Guns
The .45 caliber 1911 continued to be the military’s standard issue sidearm for years. The famous handgun is the longest-serving sidearm in our history with a service date of 1911-1985 when the Beretta M92 was adopted. Browning’s M2 machine gun wasn’t used until after his death in 1926. But it is now a legend in the military world and newer versions of that gun are still used today.
I don’t believe you can blame anyone for actions other than those who commit them. But there is no doubt that the inventions of John Moses Browning influenced and affected the history of the world. A young inventor from a poor family in Ogden UT, created guns that started wars, fought wars, and helped end those wars. A large portion of the guns we use today were built around the designs of Browning. He was an American patriot and he will continue to be the founding father of modern firearms.
